Along those lines
by Nightrayspath
Summary: He had spent the last 16 years being dead. Silently watching over his son and his friends. Now after the war had finally been won he woke up. He woke up in the seventies when he was eleven with the knowledge of the future.
1. An old new Beginning

Chapter 1

An old new beginning

Well, this was unexpected. Unexpected and weird. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. Rubbing his eyes and making sure that what he was seeing was really true. When even after all the blinking and squinting in the world his reflection did not change he had to concede that what he was seeing was reality. A weird and bizarre reality but reality none the less. He hadn't expected to wake up and be alive. Well, they had said that they would bring him back from the dead but they had forgotten to mention when they would bring him back. He stared at the reflection of himself. He was eleven years old, again. It would seem as if he would have to go through puberty twice. He groaned. Who could claim that they went through puberty twice. He also would have through the horrid clothes that they all had worn in the seventies again. Just great. He had been dead for 17 years, stuck in the in-between because he couldn't leave his friends and son behind. The in-between was the place where one decided to go to heaven, become a ghost or waited for somebody. He and Lily had been watching over them for 16 years. He had watched their every breath. He had welcomed Moony and Padfoot when they died and his two friends had chosen to wait with him for Harry when they had suddenly brought him back to life. They had to transfer his dead soul into the body of his very much alive eleven year old self of the seventies. Couldn't they have chosen a different age and maybe a different time? Maybe when he was an adult and not a squirt? They had a twisted sense of humor.

"Bloody Fates", he muttered under his breath. How the hell was he supposed to stop Voldi when he was stuck in the body of an eleven year old. He stared at his reflection some more. He had nearly forgotten just how much he looked like Harry when he was younger. His son had the same unruly black hair as him. Even their stature and face looked very similar. Only their eyes were as different as night and day. The hazel eyes staring back at him were so very different from his sons emerald ones.

Lily would be laughing at him right now. She would find the whole thing bloody hilarious. He groaned again as he thought of Lily. He had to live through six and a half years of her hating him again. Well, maybe he could change things this time around. Maybe she wouldn't hate him. The thought made him realize something. It made him realize that he could change a lot of things for the better. Not everything but maybe the things that were manageable. He needed a plan and fast.

From the way the today was marked on the calendar next to his desk today was the first of September. The day he would go to Hogwarts for the first time. And just like he remembered his trunk was not packed at all. He could vividly remember now how he had scrambled to pack everything at his mother's call at 10 o'clock. Quickly his eyes landed on the clock above the door. He still had half an hour before his mother called him. Enough time to pack. He quickly grabbed his wand. He smiled as his fingers closed around the familiar wood. He had missed his wand. Being without it in death had felt wrong.

He raised his wand and went through the motions his younger self had not known back then. The rule of not allowing underage wizards from performing magic outside of school had one gigantic loophole. They could not identify the caster. That meant that children with magical parents could perform magic without being suspected. That Loophole had caused Harry all the trouble with Dobby back in second year. He watched as everything flew into his trunk. Everything neatly taking its place inside the trunk. He also put inside his first aid kit for which he still needed to get some salves from his mums cabinet. The last item flying into it was his invisibility cloak, which had once been his fathers and in the future had been his sons. One of the deathly hallows. The thing which would protect his son and his friends from prying eyes. He gently touched the cloak before he shut the trunk. He kept his wand in his trouser pocket. Not daring to leave it far from his person especially after he had been killed so easily without it. He checked the clock again. He still had time before she called him and he would embarrasses himself horribly by hugging her tightly. He quickly grabbed an empty piece of parchment, ink and a quill before flopping down on his bed. He needed to make a list of all the things he would need to change this time around. After a few minutes of scribbling his list contained the following things:

_1. Lily - Making sure that Lily doesn't hate him as much as last time. Don't insult Snape while she is standing next to you. Don't make jokes about her hair. Don't try to play it cool. Stop showing off in front of her. __No asking her out every day!_(he needed to make a better impression on her than the first time around but he didn't want her to fall head over heels for him immediately. He could wait till seventh year again. In a sense he had liked their cat and mouse game. It had given their relationship a certain balance and strength that he didn't want to miss.)

_2. Sirius - Get him out of the Black family earlier! NEVER say that he is like his family! Never let him near Azkaban in any way! Never let Dementors near him! work on his temper! Try to stop him from going overboard! But still let him be himself! And most importantly: __Warn him about killer curtains!_ (He looked down at the words fondly. He had missed his best friend more than he cared to admit. Even if he had been beside him the last two years after his unfortunate incident with the curtain of doom. It didn't make up for the 15 years he had been without him.)

_2. Remus - Be there for him! Don't drag him through Hogwarts after a full moon, get a lunar chart! Be more gentle when revealing that you know about his furry little problem! __Don't ever doubt him!__ Don't mess with his books and don't try to take away his chocolate! _( He winced as he thought about how they had doubted him. He couldn't imagine the betrayal Remus must have felt. He would never doubt him again. He would value his unspoken trust more than ever before)

_3. Regulus - __prevent his death!__ making sure that he and Sirius don't hate each other, turning Reg into an accomplice? Lessen his parents influence on him _(This one would give him a headache he knew. He knew first-hand what Regulus had done. He had told him so in death. He knew the kid had a good heart and this time around he would make sure that Sirius saw it and not the perfect child of his mother. Also he would make sure that he didn't die like that. He would come with him to destroy the locket. But he needed the sword of Gryffindor or Basilisk fangs.)

_4._ _Snape_ (He had no clue what he was supposed to do about this one. After all he could never ever possibly like Snape but he knew what Snape would do for Lily and he had to respect that. Snape may have gone about it the wrong way but he loved Lily. He wouldn't be able to resist playing a prank on Snape form time to time but there would be no more bullying this time around.) _-__ No bullying but a few pranks are allowed!_

_5. Voldemort - ? (_He would deal with this after he had dealt with everything else. This problem was too big to make certain plans yet. He also had no clue about the current situation concerning the reign of the not yet Noseless bastard)

_4. The Basilisk! - Kill it or let someone know about it? _

_5. The Horcruxes - Finding and destroying them! Problem: The diary (_Since he had no clue where Voldemort had hidden it. Maybe it was with the Malfoys but he couldn't be sure.)

_6. Peter Pettigrew - Wormtail _(He felt torn. He felt anger for his betrayal but he also missed the friend he had been during his Hogwarts years. Maybe he could prevent it from happening. Maybe he could stop Peter from turning dark. Also even if he turned dark he wouldn't make him his secret keeper. Maybe he could save him.) - _making sure on whose side he is, prevent him from turning dark, stop ridiculing him, try to install some confidence into him, make him stand up for himself, stop protecting him from everything, teaching him to stop hiding behind powerful people and maybe __save him__. _

_7. The willow incident - __STOP IT FROM EVER HAPPENING!_

_8. Map and Animagus - maybe start a little earlier?_

_9. Avoid Malfoy at all costs! (no repetition of the frog incident!)_

_10. Same goes for Bellatrix! And for Ms. Black!_

_11. Less harmful pranks! No serious injuries!_

_12. Dobby - freeing him from Malfoy!_

_13. Kreacher - TRY to make Sirius act civil with him! (Emphasis on try!)_

_14. Don't go along with Sirius grand master plan number 26 and 31!_

"James!" His mothers call cut through his furious scribbling. He folded the piece of parchment neatly and put it in his trousers pocket before he jumped out of the bed.

"Coming!" He called as he hastily left his room and nearly fell down the stairs because he hadn't been looking where he was stepping while running. Taking two steps at a time. He more or less slithered into the dining room where his parents were putting out the plates for a very late breakfast.

He stopped dead at the sight of the two of them. His mother was just about to put the handmade cherry marmalade on the table. She looked slightly startled at his sudden entrance. The eyes he had inherited were looking at him with love. Her long copper hair was falling in waves over her shoulders. There were less grey strands than he remembered. The last time he had seen her hair had been completely silver. It was the day they had lowered her coffin into the ground. He bit his lip and tried to furiously suppress the tears that threatened to spill.

He threw his arms around her and hugged her. He soaked in her warmth and relaxed in her familiar scent. Her arms came around him automatically and she gently started to stroke his hair probably making it even messier. He had forgotten how it felt to be hugged by his mother. Something his son had never experienced. He hugged her a little tighter.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly as her finger trailed through his hair. He could hear the worried undertone in her voice. It was unusual for him to hug her like this when he was already eleven. He had always insisted that he was too grown-up for the cuddling, not that it had stopped his mother. He pulled back slightly.

"Nothing is wrong. Can't I just hug my mother for once?" He asked with a small smile. She raised an eyebrow clearly not believing him. But she didn't press the issue. His father was watching him with a questioning look. He looked nearly like him. The same unruly yet black hair, the same nose and mouth but different eyes. His were a dark blue whereas James were just as hazel as his mums eyes. His black hair was lined with silver. Before his dad could say anything James had hugged him as well.

He could hear his father's heartbeat. He could feel the sense of safety that he had always felt in his father's presence return. He had lost that feeling of safety with his father's death and the lurking danger of Voldemort. To be able to feel it again was like a fresh breath of air.

"All right, you're acting weird. What are you planning?" His father's voice asked from above him.

"I'm not planning anything!" He exclaimed with a pout. His father just laughed his deep and carefree laughter.

"Right and I'm supposed to just believe that?" He asked as he ruffled through James hair, which made James pout all the more.

"Boys!" His mother said with a fond smile. James took a seat between his parents at the table that was way too big for three people. The table was filled with all kind of foods. Last time he was unable to savor the food because he had to rush in order to pack his trunk. This time around he could eat as much as he wanted. He put all kind of food on his plate.

"Did you pack you're trunk?" His mother asked as she took a sip of her tea.

"Yes!" James said while chewing. He had forgotten just how good his mothers pancakes were. His mothers wrinkled her nose. She opened her mouth to admonish him for his table manners but they beat her to it.

"No talking while eating!" His father and him said at the same time in a bored voice. They shared a small wicked grin whereas his mother just huffed.

His father pulled out the daily prophet and started reading it which elicited another eye roll from his mother. She had tried for years to stop him from reading during breakfast with no success. In the end she had given up. James sniggered. She would be annoyed if she found out that he would do the same in the future. An idea came to James. Maybe there was something written about Snakeface.

"Dad, can I have the daily prophet please?" His father raised an eyebrow in question but handed him the wizard newspaper. Quickly James scanned through the articles. He was so busy checking them that he missed the worried looks his parents shared. There was nothing written in there. That meant he had to sneak into his dads study and find the files his father had on the Deatheaters. Having the Head Auror as a father was quiet handy. Not that he liked using his father's influence. He also needed to get some tinctures and salves from his mum for the first aid kit. He put the daily prophet down and came face to face with his parents stares.

"What?" He asked after his parents didn't stop staring at him.

"Are you sure that you're all right?" His father asked while his mother said: "You don't have a fever, right?" James groaned. Was it that weird for him to read the daily prophet? From the way his parents were acting it seemed to be. As annoying as it was he had missed their concern and worry.

"I'm fine", He said with a fond smile and an eye roll.

**oOo**

**A.N.: This was originally just a vague idea. ****The whole Snape travels back in time and changes the future stories gave me the idea. So I thought what would one of the marauders do. **I wrote it during one of my more boring History seminars to pass the time. It is more or less a side project, which is why it will probably only be updated when I'm updating Revival of the past. I might update it sooner but I don't want to let any of my stories down. 

**Anyways I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and reviews are very much appreciated :)**

**Thanks for reading ~**


	2. A reunion and Exploding Snap

Chapter 2

Exploding snap and a reunion

James was tapping his foot nervously. He had already found a compartment, the same compartment as last time. His trunk was already stored overhead together with his owl, Raleigh. It was a long-eared owl with piercing yellow eyes. His name meant roe deer's meadow and James had to concede that the name fit strangely well. He hadn't known the meaning of the name when he had named his owl but Lily had told him the meaning of it back in seventh year. She had liked knowing the meaning behind names. Thinking about Lily made him even more nervous. Couldn't Sirius finally get his ass in here and distract him. But James could see through the window that Sirius was still talking to his mother who was clutching Sirius wrist in a tight grip or rather his mother was talking while he pretended to listen. He could also make out Remus in the distance talking to his parents. With a groan James had to concede that it would take a while till Sirius was able to escape his parents clutches. With sigh he opened his bag and pulled out the files he had stolen from his dads office.

There had been a few murders of Muggleborns and Muggle in which dark magic was clearly involved but till now there was nothing concrete tying these murders to Voldemort or his Deatheaters. James scowled. Last time he hadn't even realized that even in his first year there had already been incidents happening all over the place. The current Aurors hadn't made the connection yet but James knew enough about the bloody scenes Voldemort and his supporters left behind to recognize that these crimes were committed by them. He stared at the pictures of the destroyed houses and killed families feeling a sense of cold dread settling in his stomach. The war had been bloody and dark. He would have to go through everything again and this time he would not have the blissful ignorance he had during his Hogwarts years. He knew what was out there. He knew what awaited him. He knew how much blood and death there would be.

oOo

Sirius could finally breath freely as he stepped onto the Hogwarts express. He was finally free from his mothers prying eyes and his father's cold gaze. With a loud thunk his trunk his got caught in the corner of corridor in the new wagon he had just entered. He felt a dull ache in his left wrist as he pulled at his trunk. With a frown he pulled his long sleeved shirt back. There was a bruise in the shape of his mother's hand slowly appearing on his pale skin. He muttered a few curse words before he pulled the sleeve back down to hide it. With a sharp tug he freed his trunk from the corner and continued to make his way down the corridor. He passed one full compartment after the other. It was loud as students were laughing loudly and shouting at each other. A few of the older students were patrolling up and down the corridor. Their perfect badges proudly presented on their chests. Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They were way to stuck up for his liking and rule lovers. He didn't give a damn about rules. Especially the rules of his family. the next compartment he passed by he could see his cousin Narcissa and her boyfriend Malfoy and he hurried past it as quickly as possible. He did not want to go anywhere near any of his mad cousins. The only cousin he would talk to was his cousin Andromeda. She may also be a Slytherin but at least she was sane.

With brought him to the thought of Slytherin and he had to shudder. He would rather kill himself than end up in the same house as his family. He would not end up in Slytherin. It seemed as if all compartments were full. In one of them a boy around his age was sitting studying what seemed to be files. Maybe he could make his first friend. He knocked softly on the doorframe. The boy looked up startled. Messy black hair, that stood up in all different directions and round rimmed glasses.

"Is here free?" He asked. He saw in a relieved smile bloom on the boy face as he nodded. Sirius pulled his trunk into the compartment. His short-eared owl , Basset was hooting indigently at the rough treatment.

"Let me help" The boy exclaimed as he saw Sirius struggle with his trunk. Together they managed to secure the trunk and the owl cage. With a relieved sigh he let himself fall on the seat next to the boy, who chuckled. He was putting the files away and Sirius noticed the seal of the Auror department on each one of the files.

"I'm James. Nice to meet you!" James held out his hand a grin on his face. The hazel eyes were dancing with laughter. A part of Sirius was relieved that James hadn't introduced himself with last name. So he didn't have to tell him his family name. He didn't want to scare away his first possible friend with his families dark reputation.

"Sirius" He said with a grin as he shook James hand.

oOo

James could barely contain the mad grin that threatened to overtake his features. He looked at Sirius and had to resist the urge to hug him. He looked so much better than after his stay in Azkaban. His shiny black hair was not as long. It was framing his face in a mass of shaggy black hair. There was no gaunt look to his skin. His storm grey eyes were not haunted. He looked like any other eleven year old boy. James felt almost giddy with relief.

"Care for some exploding snap?" James asked with a grin. He didn't need to wait for Sirius eager nod. He pulled out his card set. He had gotten it for his birthday. On each card famous wizards and witches were painted. There were always two cards of each wizard or witch.

"Classic exploding snap?" Sirius asked. James nodded and sat down on the floor of the compartment. Sirius followed him down without question. They made themselves comfortable on the hard floor.

James knew that Sirius was way better at exploding snap than him. He had nearly always beaten him in the past, which is why he had suggested it. During the first ride there had been a bit of awkward silence. He hoped that like this he would be spared the awkwardness.

After around 30 minutes he regretted his decision. As he had expected Sirius had won every round. What he had not yet expected was Sirius endless gloating.

"How may wins does this make?" Sirius asked with a smirk. James scowled and brushed the black grime that was clinging to his glasses away with the hem of his t-shirt.

"And how many times did you lose, Jamsie? 20?" He asked with broad grin.

"Oh shut up!" James exclaimed before he tackled Sirius. The two of them were rolling across the floor in a mock fight. They were laughing so hard that their stomachs hurt. He had missed this simple silliness. They were still wrestling on the floor when the compartment door opened. Sirius had James pinned to the floor and had been tickling his sides mercilessly. James had been about to retaliate when the door opened. The two boys looked up. James felt like someone had punched all the air out o his lungs. In the doorway Lily stood in all her glory. Dark red hair framed her face and her emerald eyes were looking directly at them. He face was filled with freckles. He had forgotten just how cute she had looked when she had been eleven. She had raised an eyebrow in question at their antics.

"Can we help you?" Sirius asked with an annoyed voice. James used the chance and rolled them over. So that Sirius was now the one beneath him. Even with his focus on Lily he noticed Sirius small flinch when he had touched his left wrist. James had a suspicion but wouldn't dare voice it anywhere near Lily or Snape. He grabbed Sirius near his elbow instead.

"Do you need something?" James asked. Internally he was glad that he had not stuttered. Lily seemed a little caught off guard. He smiled at her.

"Actually, yes." Lily said after a moment still staring at them in amusement, which was better than what happened during their last first meeting. "We wanted to know if there were still some seats free here? Our compartment has been filled with upperclassmen." This time James could see a scowling Snape standing behind Lily. He looked just like he had remembered him. Pale, black eyes and greasy looking black hair. James nodded and got up pulling Sirius to his feet with him.

"We are the only ones here, so obviously there should be free seats." Sirius said as he dusted himself off. James looked around. They had managed to scatter the cards all over the compartment. With a sigh he started to collect them. Sirius gave him the cards he had collected but with a frown James noted than one was still missing.

"Here!" Lily held out the last card to him.

"Thanks!" He said with a small smile and took the card from her. Lily and Snape made themselves comfortable on the seats opposite of him. James knew what conversation would soon follow and when they started talking about houses he couldn't help the small snort that escaped him. Somehow they were so predictable, probably not only because he had already lived through the whole thing.

"And in what house do you expect to end up?" Snape sneered and James realized with a start that he had snorted when Snape had mentioned Slytherin. He groaned mentally. Hadn't he planned on not doing this, this time around.

"Probably like my dad in Gryffindor, where the brave at heart dwell!" James exclaimed and he couldn't resist pulling an invisible sword. Sirius laughed next to him and he could even see a small smile on Lily's lips.

"More brawn than brain" Snape said with an eye roll and James could feel Sirius stiffen next to him. It was sweet how protective Sirius was even during their first meeting and it didn't help that Slytherin supporters always riled Sirius.

"Well, you are neither." Sirius retorted hotly. Snape glared at him. James could see how Lily started to feel angry on behalf of her friend. It was all going to happen the same way again. If he didn't intervene somehow the whole thing would go down the drain. He didn't want Snape as a friend but he also didn't want him as an obvious target for Sirius hatred and as an enemy. Carefully he pulled his wand making sure that none of them saw it. With a small wave aimed at the trunk above them he managed to stop Snapes angry retort. The trunk fell down and sprang open in the middle of the compartment. Sirius disheveled clothes flew everywhere. One of his socks ended up hanging on James glasses. He shared a look with Sirius. A shirt had landed on Sirius head. They burst out laughing at the same time. And once they started they couldn't stop. He heard the disdainful sniff from Snape who plucked a pair of boxer shorts from his lap to throw them on the ground. Instead of making them angry it made them laugh all the more. It was bloody hilarious.

"Let's go, Sev." Lily said. He could hear the eye roll that accompanied her words. But unlike last time her voice was not filled with as much anger as it was during their past first meeting.

oOo

Sirius took a deep breath trying to calm down but every time he looked at James with the sock hanging on his glasses he had to start laughing again. Especially when he started pulling grimaces.

It took them a while but eventually they managed to calm down. James plucked the sock from his glasses. Together they repacked all of Sirius stuff and locked the trunk but before he could put it back up James pulled his own trunk down. With a small click he opened the trunk. It looked a lot neater than Sirius had looked. He pulled out a small square bag. It was filled with vials and salves, He pulled something out before putting the bag back inside and closing the trunk.

"Can you help, please?" James asked as he struggled to put his trunk back up. Sirius nodded and together they put his as well as James trunk back up next to the owl cages.

"Hand!" James asked holding his own out. Confused Sirius put his right hand in James.

"The other hand." James said with an eye roll and a small smile. Sirius gave him his left hand still feeling confused. He felt like a dog who was asked to give paw. James fingers enclosed around his hand and before he could react James had pulled his sleeve back. The bruise that marred his wrist was in stark contrast to his skin. James breath came out through clenched teeth sounding like a hiss. Sirius wanted to pull his hand back but James grip didn't relent. He couldn't look at James and turned his head away.

"I knew it." Sirius thought he heard James mutter but he couldn't be sure. All sound around him sounded muted through the roaring in his ears. He hadn't wanted him to see. It he didn't need his pity and he didn't want it. He didn't want to be pitied by his first friend. For they were friends. He didn't dare look James in the eyes but after a while of silence he slowly turned towards James. James was staring at his bruise. Not making a sound.

"James..." Sirius said softly hoping that his friend wouldn't turn his back on him. James head jerked up. To Sirius surprise there was no pity in his eyes only blazing hot anger. Yet it wasn't directed at him but at whom had given him the bruise. The anger was directed towards his mother.

"P-Sirius, next time your injured tell me. I wouldn't have tackled you." James said as he stared intently at Sirius. There was an apology clearly heard in his voice. He felt relief flood through his system. He wasn't asking about whom he had gotten the bruises from. He didn't know if he would have been able to answer.

"A little bit of wrestling won't harm me." Sirius said with a small smirk. James smiled back but the anger in his eyes was still lingering.

He jumped when something cool was smeared across his bruise. James was smearing some salve onto it at Sirius questioning look he elaborated.

"Reduces bruising. It's made by my mum. She's a healer at St. Mungo's" James answered as he smeared the stuff all over his wrist. That must have been the thing he had pulled out of the small black bag

"Thanks" Sirius said softly. James grinned at him. He pulled his sleeve back down and the bruise disappeared beneath the black cotton.

A woman's voice sounded from the corridor. The witch with the trolley full of sweets was here. The two of them shared a grin before hastily searching for some sickles and galleons.

oOo

**A.N.: I hope you enjoyed the second chapter and reviews are always welcome. Please also tell me if you find any errors. My english is not perfect since it is not my native language. Thank you.**

5


	3. Boats and Baths

Chapter 3

Boats and Baths

Remus felt lost as he got off the Hogwarts express surrounded by a mass of laughing and chattering students. He hadn't talked to anyone inside his compartment, as they had been students of higher years, who had mostly discussed the gossip of the previous school year. He had pulled out his book and had read throughout the ride, so, he had more or less hidden behind his book. He bit his lip nervously as he followed the giant that had introduced himself as Hagrid with the other students.

He was afraid and he knew it. All his fears were swirling around his head. The fear of this all being a dream. He was a werewolf and it was a wonder that he had even gotten his Hogwarts letter. A part of him was waiting for it all to be nothing more than a dream. He was still waiting for somebody to tell him that all of this was nothing more than a horrible joke. He was also afraid of his first full moon. Professor Dumbledore hadn't explained where he would transform and he had pretty much no idea what would await him, and that scared him more than anything. He followed the other students silently till they reached the lake where boats were tied to the landing.

"Four per boat!" The booming voice of Hagrid called. Slowly he approached the water. He looked and saw that most of the boats were already filled with the new students. At the corner there was a boat where only two boys were sitting. They had their backs turned to him and seemed to be in a discussion which was underlined by laughter. He took a deep breath, telling himself over and over again that he was fine and that no one knew his secret. He tried to clamp a lit on his nervousness as he approached the boat.

oOo

James saw Remus slowly approach and once again he couldn't help the relief that swooped through him. Remus still looked pale and sickly. His brown hair was hanging into his golden eyes that he held firmly fixed to the ground as he walked over to them. There were no grey hairs yet and no deep sadness engraved into his very bones. This time he would make sure that there would be nothing that made his life unbearable. He would protect his friend.

He would also make sure that the willow incident would never happen. That incident in their friendship had been the foundation for Remus believing all the lies about Sirius. He would not allow a single crack in their friendship this time.

"Can I sit with you guys?" Even though Remus uttered the words in a soft voice, they didn't reflect the nervousness that he must have felt. He had admitted afterwards in their shared room that he had been nervous. James was about to answer when Sirius beat him to it.

"Sure" Sirius said with a grin. Remus smiled a small timed smile back before he slowly climbed into the gently rocking boat.

"Careful!" James grabbed a hold of his arm when he seemed to lose his balance on the wavering boat. Not for the first time James realized just how frail Remus seemed. He was thin and combined with his sickly look the urge to protect was nearly overwhelming. He knew that Remus was anything but weak, but he still knew that they would once again be overprotective, much to Remus annoyance and amusement.

"Thanks" Remus said softly as James helped him steady himself.

"You're welcome." James answered with a smile.

Remus took a seat opposite of Sirius. James looked around with a small frown. Peter was supposed to get into the same boat as them or at least that was how it had been the last time. He was still unsure whether or not he would simply throw him overboard and sacrifice him to the giant squid.

He noticed Peter slowly approaching in the distance. This time he would not be the one to welcome Peter, he feared that he would punch him straight away. He climbed into the boat and took his seat next to Sirius, who was rubbing his wrist. James new that the salve was starting to itch like hell but it helped.

"E-Excuse m-me, are the-there still s-eats free?" Peters stutter was so much worse than he remembered. James turned his head away and took a deep breath trying to stay calm. He closed his eyes trying to not let his anger show.

"Yes, there are." Remus answered kindly as James knew he would. Remus had always been kind and patient with Peter whereas he and Sirius had been brisk and impatient. Maybe that had been one of the reasons why he turned against them. James fists were clenched tightly. He felt Sirius worried look and shook his head before smiling at him. Sirius frowned. Oh well, the smile must have been more strained than he had thought.

With the call from Hagrid the tiny boats started gliding across the lake.

oOo

Remus frowned. The glasses wearing boy's friendly and easygoing nature had disappeared as the new boy had gotten on the boat. There was no laughing or joking with the boy next to him. Instead, his expression had become closed-off, distant as his hands were clenched into fists. Remus watched him curiously as he gave the boy next to him an obviously fake and strained smile.

"You're not seasick, right? James, I hope you aren't gonna puke all over us." The boy with the shaggy, longish black hair asked with a small smirk, obviously trying to distract his friend. James laughed and shook his head.

"No worries, Sirius. I'm not going to ruin your expensive flares!" He exclaimed with a grin. The darkness that had been in his expression had almost disappeared.

"Just what do you have against my trousers?" Sirius said with an affronted expression,

"Except that they look absolutely horrible?" James teased with a laugh.

"Muggles wear them all the time!" Sirius answered proudly.

"Yes, well, as much as I like Muggles, their taste is sometimes ... questionable!" James said with a small grin. "Isn't that right?" He turned towards Remus who was a little caught off guard to be included in the conversation.

"Well..." Remus thought about the flowery shirt his mum had brought for his dad last week and had to concede the point. "You're right."

He didn't feel bad for admitting the truth. After all, he had first hand experience. His mother was a Muggle and she often brought home things that were... a bit weird in the appearance. Especially her taste in clothes. His father just nodded when she presented him with another article of clothing that was completely cool in the Muggle world but truthfully looked quite ridiculous. His father accepted each of them and hid them away in his closet never to be seen again.

"Ha, you see!" James said with a triumphant laugh. Sirius just grumbled. Remus couldn't help the small quirk of his lips.

"But so is the taste of wizards." Remus said. Now Sirius was the one who grinned and James grumbled. Before either of them could say anything else, the boats slowly moved around a bend and Hogwarts in all his glory could finally be seen. The castle was beautiful and gigantic. Stone towers were towering high, looking as if they could touch the stars that were starting to appear in the sky. The brightly lit windows were emitting a warm glow. The cry of an owl filled the awed silence that had fallen over the boats.

He looked around at his companions. The chubby boy was staring open mouthed at the castle. Sirius was looking a little more composed but one could see the awe clearly written in his eyes. James looked pleased and happy but there was no surprise at the magnificent of Hogwarts in his face.

Slowly but steadily the boats moved towards the castle that was still far away. It was the place where they would spent most of the next seven years. Remus couldn't help feeling giddy. It was a dream come true. After his bite, he had never thought that it would be possible for him to ever step foot on the grounds of Hogwarts. Like most of the other children, his eyes were glued to the castle.

"Sirius!" James exclaimed suddenly "Look at that!"

Remus pulled his gaze away from the castle to see James and Sirius peering over the edge of their boat into the dark waters of the lake.

"There it was again!" James said and pointed his finger at a point where something had disturbed the water's surface.

"Maybe Sirens?" Sirius asked and now Remus couldn't help himself and leaned over the edge next to Sirius.

"Rather Selkies. Sirens live in warm water around Greece somewhere. Here in the colder water there could only be be selkies or maybe even irish merrows." Remus said as he peered into the dark water. This time he also saw the dark shadow moving beneath the waters dark surface. If it was daytime and they had more light than the small glow from their boats lanterns they would probably be able to tell what it was.

"You're like a walking encyclopedia!" Sirius exclaimed with a whistle. Remus felt a blush rising. He liked to read. Since he had no friends after the bite, books had become his friends.

"Or it could have been the giant squid." James said with a grin. A fearful squeak came from the chubby boy behind him.

"His tentacles are capable of pulling our boats under with one swipe!" Sirius said with smirk eliciting another fearful sound from behind them. Remus rolled his eyes. He was just about to turn around to reassure the boy that the giant squid doesn't pull boats under when the cubby boy exclaimed:

"E-H guysss?!" There was a fearful note in his voice and Remus immediately realized why. The weight inside the boat was not distributed evenly and their boats tilted dangerously. Quickly, he turned towards James and Sirius trying to get them back on their seats and prevent their overturning. But the two of them were still leaning over the edge with mad grins on their faces. Remus sighed and prepared himself for an early bath.

oOo

With a loud splash they overturned. James felt something fishy brush past his right leg as he swam back to the surface. He took in huge gulp of air as soon as possible. His vision was distorted by the water droplets clinging to his glasses. He brushed his wet hair back. He could have prevented the overturning since he knew it was going to happen but where was the fun in that?

"You all right?" He asked Remus who broke the water's surface next to him. Remus pulled a grimace.

"Except that I just got my lungs filled with lake water, I'm perfectly fine." He may have said it with a huge amount of sarcasm but James saw the amused twitch of the corner of his mouth. James grinned broadly.

"Oy, Sirius, you still alive?" He hollered across the lake.

"Yeah!" Sirius exclaimed from the other side of the boat. James took a huge gulp of air before diving beneath the boat to the other side. He broke the water's surface next to Sirius who was just helping a petrified Peter towards the boat. Peter clung to the boat for dear life as soon as it was in reach. He was stealing nervous glances around as if he expected something to grab him and drag him under. James suppressed the snicker that wanted to break through. Remus reappeared on Sirius side. He had swum around the boat not wanting to dive again.

"Everyone's all right?" Remus asked as he swam to Peters side. All three of them nodded even though Peters nod was a little shaky.

James was just about to say something when he was pulled out of the water by a big hand. He came face to face with the barely illuminated face of Hagrid.

"Hi!" He said with a grin and a small wave. Hagrid just raised an eyebrow at him.

Somehow they managed to make it to the Boathouse. It may have involved an umbrella of which they were not allowed to speak of.

"I lost my shoe" Peter said dejectedly as he wiggled with his toes. James snickered. Peter would once again be the only student to be sorted with only one shoe.

"At least you don't have seaweed stuck everywhere!" Sirius exclaimed as he pulled some more of the green stuff out of his hair.

"I don't think they will notice. After all, the fact that we are all a dripping wet mess will capture their attention more than enough." Remus said as wringed out his clothes.

"Right, the award for wettest entrance to Hogwarts will most definitely go to us ... ehh. What was your name?" Sirius asked sheepishly.

"We didn't do introductions, yet?" James asked and he was honestly surprised. He had simply forgotten. After all he already knew each of their names. "Oh well, I'm James. Eleven years old like everyone else here. Quidditch fanatic and to 100% a Gryffindor!" James said with a small mock bow.

"Sirius. Age obvious. Rule ignorer and to 200% never in Slytherin!" Sirius said as he also bowed. James noticed that he had stiffened slightly. The nervousness of the sorting had started, it seemed.

"I'm P-Peter. ... ehhh to 50% a Hufflepuff..." Peter said sounding slightly unsure. James bit his lip to keep the angry snarl inside that wanted to escape inside. The rat was neither a Gryffindor, Huffelpuff, or Ravenclaw. Maybe not even a Slytherin. It was easier to see the man the boy would become in the future than seeing the boy he currently was. He was not supposed to forget that but it was so easy to resent him while knowing what he would do. James took a deep breath trying to erase the image overlapping with the current Peter.

"I'm Remus. Bookworm and probably a Ravenclaw." Remus voice had gotten soft towards the end and James just knew that he was dwelling on his furry little problem.

"Follow me!" Hagrid exclaimed. They left the boathouse and started ascending the stairs towards the castle. Sirius was walking next to him whereas Remus and Peter were trailing behind them. He saw how Sirius' expression become more closed off the closer they got to the castle.

"Don't worry. You're not going to end up in Slytherin." James whispered towards him.

"How can you be so sure?" It was the first time he let his anxiety bleed into his voice. James grinned.

"Trust me. I know."

oOo

**A.N.: First of all a huge thanks to MSupernatural for betaing this chapter. Thank you very much. **

**For those of you who have read my other fanfiction Revival of the past this chapter will seem really familiar. Well after all it is based on one of the flashbacks in Revival of the past. **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and reviews are as always very much appreciated. **


	4. The sorting and a food fight

Chapter 4

The sorting and a food fight

Even though James had tried to reassure Sirius, he was still a ball of nervous energy as they waited in front of the doors to the great hall. The other two were not faring any better, though. Remus' fists were clenched and his eyes were wandering restlessly. Peter looked like he was about to faint. He had gone all green in the face, but at least it matched the seaweed that was stuck in his shirt collar. None of them had noticed it up till now and James had no urge to tell him about it either.

He seemed to be the only first year that was completely calm. Lily was biting her lips nervously and Snape was wearing a very stony expression. Alice was hobbling on her feet. As he saw her, he realized what he had forgotten to add to his list: Don't let Neville's parents lose their sanity through one the unforgivable curses. As he watched her, he was overcome with a new steely determination.

"And just what happened to you four?" James was pulled out of his thoughts by the voice of Professor Minerva McGonagall. She looked as strict and prober as ever. Only her face was more youthful and her hair had less grey in it. Just as with his friends and parents, he had to resist the urge to hug her for all she had done for Harry. She had also always been like a second mother to the Marauders.

All four of them looked slightly embarrassed, but also a little bit amused.

"We took a small dunk in the lake, Professor." James said with a sheepish smile and small shrug of his shoulder. She sighed and with a small wave of her wand dried them. But, again, she forgot to conjure another shoe for Peter.

"Thank you, Professor." All four of them chorused.

"All right. We are ready for you. Please follow me." She said as she turned around and opened the doors to the great hall. As all the other students were looking around the hall in awe, James was looking at the students sitting on the House tables. At first, he looked at the Hufflepuff table. The boy on the far right corner would break his leg during a Quidditch game against Ravenclaw, the girl next to him would become a healer at St. Mungos. The Hufflepuff girl next to her he recognized from a gruesome scene he wish he hadn't witnessed, she had died during a bloody Death Eater attack. He looked at the Ravenclaw table recognizing the faces of those that would die or fight alongside them or with Voldemort. He recognized the future Death Eaters that were sitting at the Slytherin table talking with laughs among themselves. A lot of these students would become murderers. Malfoy was talking with Rodolphus as he held hands with Narcissa. Bellatrix was cackling madly next to her.

She had been the one that had pushed Sirius through the veil, she had hurt his son and his friends. James' hand clenched around his wand, which he was holding hidden beneath his rope. He forcefully turned away and let his gaze travel over to the Gryffindor table. Most of the students sitting at his house table would fight against Voldemort and a lot of them would fall. He saw Frank sitting among the second year students laughing at something his colleague had said. It hurt him to think that calm and kind Frank would be driven to insanity by that scum.

"Milantha Aubrey." Professor McGonagall called and immediately the great hall fell silent. So silent that one would have heard the sound of a pen drop, in fact. James had been so lost in thought that he had overheard the song and Professor McGonagall's explanation of the ceremony. Oh well, he knew the ceremony already so it was no problem.

A black haired, pale skinned girl stepped forward and nervously took a seat. The sorting hat was put on her head. After few seconds of silence it exclaimed: "Ravenclaw!"

The table of the Ravenclaws exploded in applause. James joined and soon the other students yet to be sorted were clapping as well.

"Sirius Black!" The hall fell silent again and James could see that all the Slytherin students were looking at Sirius with something akin to certainty. They would learn just how wrong they were. Sirius was almost frozen next to him. James gave him a small push and slowly Sirius took a step forward to the sorting hat, a step towards Gryffindor.

oOo

He took a deep breath as he slowly walked towards the stool. He felt all eyes on him and he stole quick glance at James hoping that knowing who his family was would not put him off. James was grinning and holding two thumbs up. Sirius let out a breath of relief he hadn't lost his first friend. James was mouthing the word Gryffindor with a small wink. Sirius knew that getting into Gryffindor was almost a dream, after all, every single member of his family had been in Slytherin with a few exceptions. Some had been in Ravenclaw. He would be happy as long as he did not end up in Slytherin.

The last thing he saw before the hat slipped over his eyes was the grinning face of James.

'_Well, well certainly a different kind of Black',_ Sirius heard the voice of the sorting hat inside his head.

_'Don't put me in Slytherin. Not Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin' _Sirius thought over and over again.

_'Not Slytherin? Ah you want to be different from your family. But you have the potential to be someone great and Slytherin could make you into that.' _The hats voice whispered. The condemning tone the hat used irked him.

_'I. Don't. care! Don't you dare put me in Slytherin.' _Sirius thought angrily.

_'And what if I did?'_ Amusement was underlining the voice inside Sirius head.

_' I will turn you into a goldfish without a water bowl.'_ Sirius didn't know the spell for that but he would do it.

To his surprise the hat actually started to laugh out loud. A booming laugh that filled the great hall. The next thing Sirius knew was that the hat had cried: "Gryffindor!"

The hat was raised from his head. In a daze he got up and made his way over to the Gryffindor table, which was applauding and cheering loudly. They were pleased to have managed to turn a Black against his family house. He let himself flop down on the bench. As soon as he sat down, the older students started congratulating and clapping him on the back.

"Connor Davis!" McGonagall called. A blond haired boy timidly made his way over to the stool. It didn't take long for the Hat to shout: "Hufflepuff!"

He felt a cold stares filled with contempt upon his back. He turned around and saw his cousins glaring at him from the Slytherin table. Sirius stuck his tongue out towards them before turning back around.

"Lily Evans!" Sirius watched as the girl from the train made her way over to the stool. James' eyes were following her as well. She was no Slytherin material, no matter what her slimy friend said. It took a while but then the hat shouted "Gryffindor!"

She made her way over to the table with a huge grin on her face. As soon as she sat down, she started bombarding the upperclassman with questions. The next boy, Eduard Groath, was sorted into Slyhterin, the one after him, Samuel Hearth, became a Hufflepuff, whereas Dorothy Harper became a Slytherin as well. A girl with wild curly blond hair, Amanda Jackson, turned out to be a Ravenclaw.

"Remus Lupin!" McGonagall called. Remus slowly made his way towards the stool looking highly uncomfortable to be under the spotlight. Sirius kept his fingers crossed for Remus, hoping that he would end up in Gryffindor as well.

oOo

Remus had to remind himself to breath normally. A small part of him had still held onto the belief that all this was some joke and that his name wasn't on the list. As McGonagall had called his name, he had let out a small breath of relief before a new nervousness had settled over him.

Gently, he sat down on the stool. The hat felt slightly heavy as it sat on his head.

_'Ah a werewolf, haven't had one of you in many years.' _A voice whispered in his head. It took him a few seconds to realize that the voice was the sorting hat's. The meaning of his words sunk in and he felt ice freeze his veins. Fear enclosed his heart.

_'I won't tell. The things I see in a student's heart and head remain a secret."_ Remus let out a small breath of relief at the hat's words.

_'The issue is where to put you. Slytherin, you may have cunning side to you but you wouldn't be happy there.' _Remus had to agree with it. If the Slytherins ever found out about him being a werewolf they would have no qualms telling everyone and expelling him from Hogwarts if they gained something from it.

_'Hufflepuff is not your house. You certainly have a bright head on your shoulders, Ravenclaw could suit you but you see too much with your heart instead of your mind.' _The hat mused as Remus listened patiently. He had thought that Ravenclaw would suit him the best.

The hat fell silent and Remus started to worry again.

"Gryffindor!" The hat bellowed for all the students to hear. He hadn't expected to end up in Gryffindor. He was not courageous, he feared the full moon and really anything that concerned his transformations. He was not brave at all. Remus took the hat of before laying it on the stool.

The Gryffindor table was cheering loudly and he could hear Sirius loud and clear among them. His lips quirked into a small smile as he sat down next to Sirius, who clapped him so hard on the back that he nearly crashed face first into the table. Sirius was grinning madly at him.

Remus turned around as the rest of the students were sorted. He knew none of those students. James was still looking very relaxed whereas Peter couldn't seem to stand still.

They group of students yet to be sorted was shrinking significantly.

"Peter Pettigrew." She called. Finally it was Peter's turn. Peter stumbled over to the stool still with only one shoe. It was one of the few times where the hat didn't cover the student's eyes. Still, Peter's eyes were squeezed shut. It took the hat longer than with anybody else to announce his decision. Peter was constantly muttering soundlessly.

"Gryffindor!" The call resounded through the great hall as Peter let out a breath of relief. He stumbled over to them with a huge grin. Remus made room for him as he let himself flop down on the bench with a sigh of relief.

"James Potter!" McGonagall called next. James walked over to the stool confidently without any of the worries any of the other students had shown.

oOo

'_A Potter and an old soul' _The hat said inside his head. James grinned.

_'It's nice to see you too'_, James thought with a small chuckle.

_'Since you already seem to know everything, let's make this short and painless' _The hat said and before James could think anything else the Hat had shouted: "Gryffindor!"

James put the hat down with a pout. He had had the perfect prank or rather irritating discussion laid out and the sorting hat backs out. Maybe he had read in James mind what he had had planned and decided that it was better for his nerves to get it over and done with. With a grin, he sat down between Remus and Sirius. Sirius and James high fived.

"Severus Snape!" James didn't need to turn around to know that he had been sorted into Slytherin. He saw Lily's face fall slightly.

After the last students were sorted, Dumbledore rose from his seat and moved forward. He made his welcome speech and he warned them about the forbidden forest, the same old rule James and his friends would break over and over again. He sometimes thought he knew Hogwarts and the forbidden forest better than his house.

"Now, let the feast begin!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together and the tables became filled with food. James just realized just how hungry he was, but before he could start eating, the ghosts appeared. After a small chat with Sir Nicholas, he put a few roasted rosemary potatoes and a bit of the roasted chicken, a bit of the carrots and a bit of the roast beef on his plate.

"Evans. Can you hand me the mushrooms, please?" He asked Lily, who raised an eyebrow at his already relatively full plate but handed him the fried mushrooms without a comment. Lily seemed to be in a deep discussion with Alice about something or another. James guessed that it had something to do with school work or with the wonders of magic.

Sirius next to him was wolfing everything down with enthusiasm.

"Don't you have any table manners?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't care about table manners at the moment. After years of only eating Kreacher's horrible cooking, this is heaven!" Sirius exclaimed between bites. James chuckled whereas Remus still looked slightly confused.

"Horrible House-elf with even more horrible cooking skills." James stated before chewing on some mushrooms. Remus nodded before going back to his food. He looked to his right only to see that apparently Peter had no table manners as well. He let out a resigned sigh and continued eating. James chuckled as filled his goblet with more pumpkin juice.

"Can I have the jug next, please?" Lily asked politely while eyeing the mess Sirius and Peter were making with something akin to disgust. James nodded but instead of handing her the jug, he poured the pumpkin juice directly into her goblet.

"Thanks." She said with a smile and James nodded at her. Sirius made some undistinguishable noise around the food in his mouth.

"What was that?" James asked with a quirk of his lips and a raised eyebrow. "I heard swallowing before speaking is quite useful."

Sirius waved with his hand as if it didn't matter but he did swallow before talking. "You're acting awfully polite. May I inquire as to why?" A sly grin was making his way onto Sirius face. James groaned. It seemed like the teasing about Lily would start very early this time around. Last time it had only started in second year, and, by third year, teasing James about Lily had become a daily constant of the marauders. James shook his head. When Sirius smirk got wider and he was about to make an embarrassing comment James did the only thing he could do to prevent it. He stepped hard onto Sirius foot.

"Ouch!" Sirius exclaimed before glaring at James. "Oh, you're so going to pay for that!" Sirius grabbed a bit of mashed potatoes and threw them at James, who managed to evade at the last minute. The mashed potatoes hit Peter on the ear. Remus, who had kept an eye on the two of them, had managed to evade as well by leaning backwards.

"Missed me!" James said as he stuck his tongue out.

"I won't miss this time!" Sirius said as he grabbed a bit of yorkshire pudding. James used an empty plate as a shield. The pudding, for some odd reason, pounced of the plate and hit a third year student in the face. From then on, absolute chaos ensured. The third year student took a spoon and loaded it with ketchup. The red projectile hit the student next to Sirius on top of the head. She retaliated by throwing boiled potatoes. In the end a food fight broke out on the Gryffindor table. McGonagall was already seeing red when a projectile in the form of yorkshire pudding hit a Hufflpuff student. From then on there was no stopping the food fight. All four houses started throwing food at each other. It had become an all-out war.

James laughed as threw more mashed potatoes at Frank, who was grinning before throwing a piece of roasted chicken at another person.

The only reason it ended was because Professor McGonagall exploded. After that, dessert was a more subdued event. James was cleaning his glasses from the ketchup whereas Sirius tried to get rid of the peas that got entangled in his hair. Yet whenever James and Sirius met eyes, they started snickering. Remus was rolling his eyes at them but he had an amused twinkle in his eyes as he plucked the carrots from his hair. Peter was chuckling quietly as he put more of the dessert on his plate. The fact that he had a bit of Yorkshire pudding in his hair didn't seem to bother him.

All in all, James felt that it as a wonderful start to the term.

oOo

**A.N.: Well, here is another one. I know that Bellatrix went to Hogwarts from ca. 1962 to 1970 but I couldn't resist putting her in Hogwarts while the marauders are there, at least they will only have to bear with her for a year. The thing that bloody frustrated me was the fact that Alice Longbottoms maiden name can't be found and I dislike creating last names for original character. So whenever somebody calls her it will be without last name or there will be ? written. **

**So Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and reviews are as always welcome.**


	5. Shortcuts and friendly banter

Chapter 5

Shortcuts and friendly banter

"First years, follow me!" The perfect, Daniel Trey, shouted at the head of the group of first years. James could distinctly remember him ducking a lot of points from his own house because of the Marauders. Well, he wouldn't have more luck the second time around. Gryffindor was still going to lose a lot of points, James thought without remorse.

"No dawdling!" He called and James choked on the laugh that wanted to escape him. He sounded like Percy back when he had escorted Harry to Gryffindor tower, which made James have the sneaking suspicion that all Perfects were briefed on saying '_no dawdling_' when escorting the first years. The briefing seemed to have stayed the same for over twenty years. That really was not very innovative. Sirius, who was walking next to him, raised an eyebrow at James choked laugh that sounded more like an extremely weird cough. His eyes were clearly saying '_do I want to know what that was?_', and it only made James want to laugh all the more.

To top it off the perfect was taking the long way, all the way through half of Hogwarts. Percy had been faster at getting Harry and his friends to Gryffindor Tower than Daniel, who had started droning on and on about the history of Hogwarts. Lily was listening fascinated, even though she had probably read it all in the same book Hermione had read. Not probably but certainly, James decided as she corrected the perfect on something he had gotten wrong.

"Boring." Sirius whispered at that moment quietly to James. He nodded in response. An idea came to his mind.

"Want to take a short-cut?" James asked with a sly grin. They were the last of the students and Remus and Peter were in front of them. "Dad told me about one." James added. It would have seemed strange if he knew the way otherwise.

"Why not?" Sirius answered with a small smirk. The two of them made sure that no one was watching them before sneaking away.

oOo

"What do you think, James?" Remus asked as he looked over his shoulder to come face to face with nothing but empty air. James and Sirius were gone.

Remus suppressed a groan. Just great, James and Sirius had disappeared. They were lost somewhere in this huge castle.

"Peter, I think we have a problem." Remus said as he turned towards the boy beside him. Peter also looked over his shoulder before a small worried frown graced his features.

"That we most definitely have." Peter stated. The two of them made their forward to Daniel ignoring their new housemates annoyed mutters as they pushed towards the front.

"We've lost James and Sirius." Remus informed the perfect.

"They've disappeared." Peter added. The Perfect blinked slowly as his brain tried to process the information.

"What do you mean?" The perfect asked disbelievingly. From his shocked expression Remus guessed that this was the first time first-year students had gotten lost on the way to Gryffindor tower under the watchful eyes of a perfect.

"They disappeared, as in, they are no longer here." Remus said slightly irritated. "They are gone" he said as he pointed at the empty space were James and Sirius had been.

Slightly stupefied, the perfect started counting the students that had been following him. He paled as he realized that there were only eight instead of ten, his gaze starting to travel hastily around the corridor but there was no sign of the two missing students. The perfect took a deep breath trying to calm down to think of a way to find the wayward students.

"Since when have they've been missing?" He asked Remus after a he had thought the matter over. Peter and Remus exchanged a look.

"No idea." Their answer made Daniel sigh.

"All right, let's get you guys to Gryffindor Tower. I will look for the two after I dropped you guys off." He decided before they started moving once more. If he went to look for the two of them with the eight first years, he would likely lose some more students.

This time, their pace was a lot faster. The information about Hogwarts castle had stopped as Daniel walked in tense silence. Remus and Peter, who had been nearly last in the line at the beginning, were now walking directly behind Daniel. Lily and Alice, who had been the first in line before the disappearance, were walking behind them. Lily had a small frown on her face.

"Careful now that everybody is on the stairs. They change directions from time to time, we don't want to lose anyone else!" Daniel said as the students descended the stairs. They made their way through Hogwarts till they finally seemed to have reached their destination. Daniel stopped walking suddenly, so suddenly that Remus and Peter nearly walked into him. On the wall next to the portrait of a rather corpulent lady, Sirius and James were leaning with wide grins.

They were covered in spider webs and dust but it didn't seem to bother them.

"Where were you guys?" Peter asked before Daniel had a chance to recover.

"I accidently leaned against the entrance of a secret passage." James answered with sheepish smile.

"He fell through a portrait." Sirius stated with a broad grin.

"Yeah, well, you were the one that followed me through." James said as he plucked a small spider off his shoulder.

"Should I just have left you in there?" Sirius asked with playful smirk. James rolled his eyes at him.

"Anyways, when we managed to get back out of the secret passage you guys were gone." James continued.

"We asked the portraits for directions." Sirius added. Remus looked from one to the other something seemed off about their story and when the two of them sent him innocent grins, he knew that something was most definitely up. The perfect just let out a breath of relief, happy that he didn't have to search for the two of them.

With the words _'aureus animus_' the portrait of the fat lady moved aside and let the new students inside.

"The left door leads to the boys' dormitories and the right to the girls'. The girls' staircase is enchanted so that no boy can go up there." Daniel informed them before he left them to it. He sat down on the couch in the common room with a small relieved sigh.

Remus, Sirius, James and Peter eagerly ascended the stairs and made their way towards their room. Sirius and James jumped onto the next best bed with a laugh. Remus rolled his eyes as he sat down on the bed closest to the bathroom. Peter chose the bed near the door to the hallway.

"Alright, out with it. Where were you guys?" Remus asked as he pulled his pajamas from his trunk.

"We told you." Sirius said with an air of innocence while he fiddled with his wand.

"And I don't believe that story" Remus stated plainly.

"Aw don't you trust us, Remy?" James asked in a slightly muffled voice as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Don't call me, Remy." Remus protested weakly. He didn't answer the question. He didn't know if he could trust them. He had after all only known them for a day. And most of all he could never entrust anyone with his secret.

"Now we will definitely call you Remy!" Sirius exclaimed with a laugh. Remus sighed. He should have kept his mouth shut. He had the sneaking suspicion that it would take more than a lifetime to get rid of the nickname.

"So were you guys telling the truth or not?" A slightly confused Peter asked as he struggled to get rid of his socks.

"Both." James and Sirius answered. They shared a quick smirk before James made his way over to the bathroom. "Dad told me about a secret passage." James called from inside the bathroom. "A shortcut to Gryffindor Tower."

"A shortcut behind a portrait. As I said, he fell through a portrait." Sirius said with a sly grin. A muffled reply could be heard from inside the bathroom. "He was checking for a way to open the passage when he just simply fell through it. His stumped expression was priceless." Sirius snickered.

"Mhmhmm mmhm!" James unintelligible protest could be heard as his head appeared in the doorway to the bathroom. He had his toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste was clinging to his lips as he glared at Sirius, who just sent him an innocent little grin. "Mhmmh mhm mmhm nhm mhnnm!" James protested again.

"Maybe you should finish brushing your teeth before trying to argue with Sirius?" Remus asked with an amused quirk on his lips. Peter snickered and Sirius grin broadened. James sent him a look that spelled something along the lines of traitor before disappearing inside the bathroom once more.

Not even a moment later, James stepped back into the room with a scarlet towel hanging over his shoulders.

"As I was saying, Sirius' expression was way more amusing. He nearly had a panic attack when I disappeared into the portrait." James said with a smirk as he flung the towel into his trunk.

"I did not have a panic attack!" Sirius' reply was just on the right side of indignant. Peter snickered quietly as he made his way into the bathroom. James smirked.

"James!" He squealed in what Remus assumed was supposed to be Sirius' voice during the moment he fell through the portrait.

"Oh Shut it, Jamsie!" Sirius exclaimed with a glare as he grabbed the next best projectile, a cushion, and threw it a James. He evaded gracefully by stepping to the side.

"Missed me!" James stuck his tongue out at Sirius. Remus had a feeling of déjà vu. The food fight had started in nearly the same manner. He suspected the evening would end with a pillow war. Sirius grabbed the next best pillow he could reach and threw it at James, who caught it midair to throw it back towards Sirius.

When Peter stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later he was greeted by a pillow to the face. Remus had given up trying to read his book after he had been hit by the third stray pillow (which wasn't stray at all) and was currently just trying not to get hit by the fluffy projectiles.

He took his chance to escape the pillow war zone and locked himself inside the bathroom. He stripped out of his clothes causing his expression to darken when he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His thin and frail looking body was covered by thick scars. In fact, his whole body was a map of scar tissue. He would never be able to change in front of the others without raising unwanted questions. His reflection managed to drain away the simple happiness he had felt. He was a monster, a monster that pretended to still be human, a skin-clad wolf. He forcefully turned his eyes away from his reflection.

oOo

James frowned slightly as he watched Remus disappear inside the bathroom with his pajamas. He evaded the pillow a yawning Peter threw easily. He had forgotten that Remus always changed somewhere hidden so that no one saw the scars that littered his body. He had forgotten it because after they had found out Remus slowly started to stop worrying about his scars. At some point he had gotten comfortable to run around shirtless with them just like he and Sirius. Remus' fear and anxiousness had lessened largely over the years they had been friends, and this time it would be the same way again. Maybe even more so since he would not allow the willow incident from happening again.

He was so distracted with his thoughts that he didn't register Sirius next attack till it was too late. Sirius tackled him hard and they both collapsed on the bed in heap of arms and legs.

"Got ya!" Sirius said with broad grin and James couldn't help the lump that built inside his throat. This was the way Sirius was supposed to look, laughter illuminating his eyes a teasing smirk on his lips. He should never have lost his joy to those Dementors. The thirty-year-old Sirius should have been able to laugh just as much as his eleven year old self.

He wasn't supposed to cry till his tears had dried up and scream till he lost his voice.

He wasn't supposed to beg for his death instead of endless torment of his worst memories. He wasn't supposed to be tormented by James' death.

Sirius wasn't supposed to end up in a cold lonely cell in Azkaban. He wasn't supposed to starve.

Sirius was supposed to laugh and live freely, not behind bars.

He wasn't supposed to nearly lose himself.

"James?" When James failed to answer a worried undertone entered Sirius voice. James mind was caught inside memories of pain, of being unable to help.

"James, what's wrong?" The open worry that was bleeding in Sirius' anxious voice snapped James out of the screams resounding inside a cell of the future. He blinked up at Sirius. He had to blink repeatedly to clear his vision from the unshed tears that had gathered in his eyes. Sirius' worried face was looking down at him. James took a deep breath trying to banish the images of invisibly sitting next to Sirius as he slowly lost more and more parts of himself. He needed to banish them but never forget them; they were one of the fuels needed for changing the future.

"James?" Sirius asked again but the anxiousness in his voice had lessened.

"I'm fine, Sirius." James tried to smile but he doubted that it looked right.

"Bullshit!" Sirius exclaimed angrily surprising James. "You're not fine! Your eyes looked hollow and empty like you weren't in there!" A barely noticeable shiver ran down Sirius' spine. With a start James realized that he had been afraid. The fear had turned into anger.

"I'm fine." This time a soft sincere smile graced his lips. "It was just-" James took a slightly shaky breath. "Just a memory."

Sirius eyed him suspiciously for a minute or two. He was saved from elaborating when Remus stepped back out of the bathroom.

"What time is it?" Remus asked as he dried his wet hair with a towel.

"Too late to still be awake." Peter muttered from his bed on which he had collapsed after the pillow fight had been finished.

"We should probably go to bed." Remus was as always the voice of reason. Sirius glanced at James suspiciously once more before he went into the bathroom. James let out a small breath of relief. Peter was out like a light the minute he was wrapped into his blanket. Remus pulled the curtains close with a whispered good night.

James lay down when he heard the bathroom door open. The blanket pulled up till his chin listening to the sounds of his friends. Peters gentle snores, Remus soft breaths and Sirius muttering curses as he stumbled around in the dark to find his bed. He heard Sirius slip beneath the blanket. His deep and even breaths soon joined Peter and Remus. They were like the notes of a lullaby to James. The only notes missing were Lily's and Harry's, he thought faintly before sleep claimed him as well

oOo

**A.N.: First of all I would like to apologize for taking so long to update. I had and still have a writing block. So writing is currently slow ... slower than slow. Which is also the reason why the revival of the past chapter will take a while longer to be finished. And the start of my classes is coming closer and closer additionally I'm currently running around like a headless chicken from one appointment, seminar and birthday party to the next all the while trying to juggle work and university stuff. So once again I'm sorry for the delay. Also in case you haven't noticed I like to keep the pace relatively slow, I love developing story and character at a pace where there is no rush towards the end of the story. So this fanfic will probably turn out to be a longer one than even I'm expecting. That concludes my longest author note yet ^^'**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and reviews are as always welcome. **


	6. Burning Howler and a Tabby Cat

Chapter 6

Burning Howler and a Tabby cat

"Did ya' have to dump water on me?" Sirius grumbled as they walked down the corridor towards the Great Hall. This morning, Sirius had suffered a horrible way to wake up, and considering he had been woken up by his mother and Kreacher for the last 11 years, that was saying something, for sure. He was dreaming quite peacefully and was forcefully and rudely woken up by a douse of cold water being thrown at him. After cursing his friends with some colourful words, he only calmed down when Remus managed to dry his hair.

"You weren't waking up." James answered with a small smirk.

"Still, did it have to be a cold shower?" Sirius whined.

"You weren't reacting to us screaming into your ear." James said with a small shrug of his shoulders. "By the way, I think you should clean them. Your ears, I mean. There seems to be all kind of stuff stuck in there to prevent you from hearing."

Sirius sent him a dark look and shoved him with his shoulder as James laughed.

"And you guys, why didn't you stop him?" Sirius asked darkly as he turned towards Remus and Peter.

"You weren't waking up any other way." Peter said with a small smile and a shrug of his shoulders. "Be happy that he didn't push you out of your bed like he did with me."

"And I doubt we could have managed to stop James anyways." Remus added.

"Well, you could have tried to." Sirius said as he crossed his arms with a pout.

"Aww poor Siripoo." James said as he patted Sirius' head. Sirius glared at James but there was no real heat in it. He was drinking in the teasing and laughter like a sponge, feeling truly at ease with who he was for the first time in his life.

The Great Hall was already filled with students eating breakfast when they entered it, but the four friends still managed to find a spot for themselves at the end of the Gryffindor table, a spot that was pretty close to the professors, much to Sirius' discomfort. Slowly, way slower than normal, they started eating.

"Hand me the scrambled eggs, please?" James asked as he piled sausages on his plate. Sirius, who was chewing his fried egg, handed him the plate after he had taken some of the scrambled egg for himself. His plate was already filled with food, making Remus just shake his head at the amount of food.

"Where's the pumpkin juice?" Peter asked as he searched the table for the jug. His plate had even more food than Sirius' on it. Peter was as good as inhaling the food on the table.

"Evans! Can you hand the jug pumpkin juice over... please?" James called. He added the please as if it was an afterthought. Sirius was fascinated. He had known James for not even a day and he could already notice that his behavior around Lily Evans was different than usual. He acted more polite, it was as if he was walking on egg shells around her. As if he feared some huge explosion of some kind and at the same time he had this ridiculous besotted expression on his face. It was the perfect teasing material of all teasing materials Sirius would probably ever find.

Evans looked at James with a raised eyebrow but handed the jug over without comment. James thanked her before handing the jug to Peter. Sirius glanced over to Remus who was watching James with a raised eyebrow. It seemed that he was not the only one who had noticed it. He sent Remus an impish grin before turning towards James to tease him. He opened his mouth to start his merciless tease but never got to say anything when somebody cleared their throat behind him.

"Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Potter and Mr. Pettigrew." It was Professor Minerva McGonagall and Sirius had the urge to proclaim that he was innocent even though he had done nothing that would suggest otherwise, yet. He had no illusions that they would probably get into trouble more often than not, which was just the way he liked it.

"Your timetables." She said as she handed the papers out to them. "You will be in my class during the second period and I expect all of you to be on time." Her stern gaze made him twitchy.

"Aye, aye ma'am!" James and Sirius exclaimed at the same time, both of them even saluting. Sirius grinned at James. The professor just looked at them dryly, one of her eyebrows arched high but otherwise she gave no indication to having heard them.

"Mr. Lupin." Her gaze softened as she turned towards Remus, whose grip on his glass of pumpkin juice was tight. "Professor Dumbledore requests your presence in his office after my class." With those words she left them and continued to hand out the timetables to the rest of the first years.

"What did you do?" Sirius asked Remus with a raised eyebrow. "To have to go to Dumbledore's office on the first day?"

"Nothing." Remus said tensely with shrug of his shoulders.

"Do you know why he wants you in his office?" Peter asked as he paused eating for a moment. Again Remus shrugged with his shoulders and shook his head but he stabbed the tomato on his plate a little more forcefully, a clear a sign that he wanted them to stop prying. Still Sirius knew when there was a secret. He would figure it out eventually.

"Today we have charms with the Hufflepuffs and Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws." James said absently as he looked at their timetable.

"Just a simple question, does anyone of us know the way to said classrooms?" Peter asked after a moment of silence.

"I've got a general idea where they are." James said after a moment but before Sirius could ask how he knew that the distinct sound of flapping wings could be heard. The post was arriving.

Sirius blood ran cold as he saw the familiar owl of his father fly towards him a red envelope clutched in its claws. His head whipped towards the Slytherin table, where he saw Narcissa and Bellatrix smirking broadly. Those bloody cousins of his had probably immediately sent a letter to his parents after the sorting.

The large black owl, the irony of it being black was not lost to Sirius even in the face of a howler, dropped the howler in his lap before flying away with on indignant hoot. Sirius stared at letter in his lap as if it was time bomb, which in a way it was.

"Open it. Waiting will only make it worse." Remus said with a small wince.

"I already know what it will scream." Sirius muttered darkly as he dropped the letter onto his plate. His appétit was most definitely gone now. He ripped the envelope open as quickly as possible, like ripping a bandage off.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK-!"

"Hello to you too, mother." Sirius muttered darkly. He could hear the snickers of the Slytherin table from the other side of the room.

"HOW DARE YOU?! HAVE YOU NOT DISGRACED THE NAME OF OUR FAMILY MORE THAN ENOUGH?! TO LET YOURSELF BE SORTED INTO THAT SHAMEFUL HOUSE! A HOUSE FULL OF MUDBLOODS AND BLOODTRAITORS! DRAGGING THE NAME OF THE MOST ANCIENT AND NOBEL HOUSE OF BLACK THROUGH THE MUD! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! YOU'RE NOT MY SON ! NO SON OF MINE IS A MUDBLOOD LOVER! YOU WILL NOT BECOME ONE OF THEM!" Sirius hands were clenched into fists as he tried to even out his breathing. The words would have ripped him apart once upon a time when he had been younger, but now he was used to his mother's hatred and disappointment so they only infuriated him.

"STAY AWAY FROM THOSE FREAKS! THEY DIRTEN OUR PURE BLOOD! DON'T YOU DARE BRING MORE SHAME TO OUR NAME!" Anger was cursing through his veins. He looked up startled when he felt James feet nudge his. James had pulled his wand and was currently pointing it at the still raging howler. He made a small movement and the next thing Sirius knew the Howler burst into flames. An explosive flame enveloped the Howler, a flame nearly as long as his arm. It was a beautiful, artistic sight, but his mother's voice continued to screech.

"Huh" James said as he looked at his wand, it was most definitely not what he had wanted to achieve. Limiting his range of spells and curses to those of a first year was definitely not easy, but he couldn't go around using seventh year spells when he hadn't been at Hogwarts for more than a day.

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY MORE OF SUCH DISGRACEFUL BEHAVIOUR! WE WILL DISOWN YOU! IF YOU SO MUCH AS MOVE A TOE OUT OF LINE YOU ARE NO LONGER MY SON-" The burning letter continued to scream in his mother's voice.

"Remus, can you hand me the pumpkin juice?" James asked calmly as if there wasn't a burning howler on the table. If Sirius hadn't still been screamed at by his mother, he would have laughed at Remus' stumped expression. Upon seeing that Remus had frozen, Peter handed James the jug, which James promptly emptied on the still burning letter. His mother's voice made some weird gurgling sound as she tried to continue screeching. At least now her words were no longer distinguishable.

"Is there anything that can shut your mother up?" James asked with a raised eyebrow as he poked the still screeching letter with the tip of his wand.

"Not that I know of." Sirius muttered darkly.

"Anyone here know a silencing charm?" James bellowed at the top of his lungs trying to drown out the undistinguishable screeching of Sirius' mother. He wanted nothing more than use a well-placed silencing charm on the letter, but again he decided against overusing his previous knowledge.

"I can try it." Remus said as he pulled his own wand. There was a gleam in his eyes that clearly spelled that he would gladly do it.

"Silencio!" It didn't surprise Sirius all that much that Remus could perform a fifth year spell on the first try. A self-satisfied smirk was gracing Remus features as the letter finally fell silent. Sirius let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Behind him the Slytherin table burst into spiteful laughter, causing Sirius' spine to stiffen.

"Ignore them." Peter whispered. James was glaring darkly at the Slytherin table, and even Remus was glaring at them. Had Sirius not looked at James at that moment he would have missed the subtle movement of his wand and that he had muttered something under his breath.

The sound of wood breaking filled the Great Hall and the tumbling as all the Slytherin students landed on the floor could be heard. The legs of their benches had broken. Confused, Slytherin students were sitting on the floor not knowing how they ended up there whereas the rest of the Great Hall burst into laughter.

"Well, it seems as if even their benches could not hold the weight of their meanness." James said with a small smirk. Peter was chuckling next to him and Remus tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. Sirius joined in the laughter that filled the great hall. Even with his mother's angry howler he felt lighter than he had felt ever before in his life.

oOo

James was bored. Like seriously bored. He had nothing against charms but it was so freaking boring, and now that he knew every single one of those charms by heart, it had only gotten worse. He had to resist poking his feather with his wand out of boredom. He knew what happened when poking his feather and he actually wanted to do it, just to cause some distraction, but he decided against it. Professor Flitwick was repeating the wand movement for Wingardium Leviosa or what felt like the eleventh millionth time. It could even be the twelfth millionth time. He would have loved not to make the movement with the rest of the class but that would have become slightly suspicious so he dutifully preformed the movement.

Peter, who was sitting next to him, was listening attentively.

Finally, after what felt like forever they were allowed to perform the charm on their feathers. James didn't perform his charm immediately after all he did not want to disturb someone's first achievement.

"Ohhhh! Look the first person succeeded!" Professor Flitwick's voice exclaimed sounding delighted. James smiled he knew without looking who it was.

"Wonderful, Ms. Evans!" Lily's smile widened under the professors praise as she watched he feather float towards the ceiling with a delighted expression. "Five points to Gryffindor!"

"Wingradium Leviosa!" Peter exclaimed but his feather did not move even a millimeter. His wrong pronunciation didn't go amiss, as Remus quickly corrected him.

"Wingardium Leviosa" James said the spell and preformed the wand movement with practiced ease. His feather rose steadily into the air.

"Ohhh! Another one! Good job, Mr. Potter!" Professor Flitwick praised. "Another five points for Gryffindor! What a wonderful group of Gryffindors we have this year!" Sirius, who sat behind him, clapped him on the shoulder with a broad grin.

James somehow survived the lesson, even though he didn't quite remember how he managed it without dying of boredom. Sirius and Remus had been the next ones to manage to make their feathers float, after having James '_success'_ as motivation to try hard. James and Sirius had started a mock duel with their floating feathers, but Peter still hadn't managed to make his float enough. James had tried to help him but even then he had only managed to let his feather float a few millimeters above the ground.

James sincerely hoped that Transfiguration was at least a little bit more interesting. But considering how good (and consequently, bored) he had been even in his first time around, he hadn't high expectations.

oOo

Lily had already put her stuff neatly on the table, a beginner's guide to transfigurations lying open in front of her. She had obviously read the book in her free time before Hogwarts started. She had in fact literally swallowed all her school books up. Magical knowledge fascinated her. After a successful first lesson in charms she couldn't wait to start with transfiguration. Charms and transfigurations were lessons that really interested her… Who was she kidding, she was looking forward to every single bloody lesson. Well, maybe flying not so much. She felt slightly queasy when thinking about flying.

The classroom was slowly filling with students. Potter and his friends made their way inside and chose the tables in the last row behind her. They were laughing and teasing each other and they were quite loud. After the feather fight in the middle of charms, which hadn't even earned them a scolding because Flitwick had been so impressed with their control over the feathers, she was slightly miffed with them. Well, more with Potter and Black than with Lupin and Pettigrew. She could hear them talking loudly behind her. There was still no professor present only a tabby cat was sitting on the desk watching the students with keen eyes.

"Leave the cat alone, Sirius!" She heard Potter exclaim behind her. At least he seemed to have a sliver some common sense in him.

"Why?" Black asked and she bet he was pouting. It seemed that the incident at breakfast had already slipped his mind. She couldn't help but feel glad. She also never wanted to meet Ms. Black. Alone hearing her howler was more than enough.

"Why? Well, because the cat is an animagus and she is our professor, you idiot." Potter said as he tried to whisper but still his words carried across the whole room. For some reason, he slapped himself on his forehead, which Lily obviously found strange. The cat jumped down from the table and turned into their Professor McGonagall. The students stared at her in silent awe before exited chatter and clapping started breaking out.

"Thank you." Professor McGonagall said dryly. After a few seconds complete silence reigned in the room. "First of all I do not tolerate any sort of drivel in my classroom." She sent a meaning full look around the classroom.

"Secondly I do not tolerate laziness. Transfiguration is very hard work. You have to get each spell exactly right in order for the transfiguration to be successful. Therefore Transfiguration is one of the more scientific forms of magic... unlike Divination, for example." A small frown of displeasure graced her features. Lily was listening attentively, nearly sitting on the edge of her seat. She frowned when she heard Potter try to suppress a snicker behind her.

"Mr. Potter!" Lily felt a small amount of satisfaction that Potter had been called out on his behavior.

"Yes, professor McGonagall?" Potter sounded absolutely unfazed, which irked Lily slightly.

"After you have giggled more than enough with Mr. Black could you enlighten us about the four branches of transfiguration?" Lily had an idea of the answer. It was written in their book but she doubted that Potter had read it, much less understood it, considering she herself had read it quite a few times but still hadn't grasped the concept fully. Lily turned around to watch Potter.

"Of course I can." Potter answered with small shrug of his shoulders. "The first branch is Transformation which consist of three sub-types namely Human Transfiguration, Switching and Trans-species Transformations. The sub-types can overlap in certain areas. The second branch is called Vanishment, to make things, as the name suggests, vanish. The third branch is Conjuration, which is the opposite of Vanishment, obviously. And the last branch the fourth branch is Untransfiguration." Potter stated simply. Lily stared at him baffled like the rest of the class.

"Correct Mr. Potter. Six points for Gryffindor" Professor McGonagall was smiling if one squinted. "Even if you know the answers, please refrain from disturbing the lesson. The same goes for Mr. Black."

"Yes, Professor." Both boys answered as Black high fived Potter. Lily turned back around with a slight huff.

Professor McGonagall started writing on the blackboard and students hastily pulled out ink and parchment to take notes. Lily pushed Potter to the back of her mind as she wrote down the complicate notes.

After they were finished taking notes, she started handing out matches to the students, which they were supposed to turn into needles. She had shown them the wand movement and everything. Lily's match failed to show even the slightest change. The rest of the students didn't fare any better as it seemed, and she saw that Potter hadn't even tried yet, as he was reading some kind of book. She focused back on her match, and, after some more tries, if she looked really closely, her match started to appear slightly silver. She was tired already, though, as that had only been after about thirty tries at changing the stubborn thing.

"Ah Mr. Potter, let me see." Professor McGonagall walked past Lily to the back. Lily turned around to look behind her. Professor McGonagall picked up his match, which was no longer a match but a perfect needle.

"Excellent job, Mr. Potter! Eighteen points to Gryffindor. Hardly any first year manages to turn it into a needle during the first lesson, and I haven't seen one who managed to do so so perfectly." Professor McGonagall praised. She took the needle to the front of the room and proudly showed it to the class. Lily made an annoyed noise at the fact that Potter was better than her as she turned back to her own match and tried to turn it into a needle a few more times.

oOo

**A.N.: Thank you so much for the reviews up till now and I hope you continue to enjoy it. **


	7. Full moon howls and a Troll

Chapter 7

Full moon howls and a Troll

James was proud of himself. The potion class on Friday had not ended in disaster, even though it had been a close call. Potions with the Slytherins was, to say the least, always stressful.

He had had to keep an eye on Sirius for most of the lesson, and having Snape and Lily two rows in front of them had not helped at all. James had somehow managed to distract his best friend enough for Sirius not to make a single degrading comment towards Snape, even though the greasy git had made a comment that sounded suspiciously like the one he had made on the train. James had ignored it and Sirius had luckily overheard it since at the moment Alice's potion had done some strange noise, something it most definitely was not supposed to do. It had sounded like the potion had let loose a fart in a way, which amused Sirius, Remus, Peter and him greatly. Alice hadn't found it as funny and had gone red before cursing her faulty potion in a fairly colourful language that Neville probably didn't know about and probably shouldn't know about, which obviously just made the boys laugh more. It seemed his mother was not a very big fan of potions either. Slughorn had fretted for a while before they had gone back to work. The rest of the day had thankfully been fairly uneventful. If Peter falling into the lake pulling Sirius along could be counted as uneventful, that is.

Saturday had passed in the blink of an eye. They had spent the day with a bit of exploring. Well, that was a lie. They had spent the day with loads of exploring. It was actually all they had done Saturday. Remus had grumbled something about homework quite a few times but no one had listened to him as usual. They had walked through the castle that would become their home for the next seven years with awe etched across their features. It is not as if James didn't already know every single stone and its underside of course, but he had still enjoyed the exploration of the castle just as much as his friends. It had felt good to be so carefree and to see all of his friends laughing.

It was finally, but sadly, Sunday evening. The four of them were lying sprawled across the Common Room. They had made Remus sit on the couch after they had noted how pale he had become.

After a huge amount of pestering from Sirius, Remus had even conceded that he had a headache. James knew that it was not all that was currently bothering Remus' mind and body, though, as tonight was the full moon and it was Remus' first full moon at Hogwarts. James bet that Remus was also feeling nauseous and that probably every bone in his body hurt, even if the only sign of his discomfort was his pale complexion. James had managed to wrap Remus into a blanket without getting his head bitten off by the disgruntled werewolf. He knew that Remus considered himself slightly allergic to mothering, but it had ever stopped any of the marauders from mothering him. Today however he was only glared at as Remus grudgingly huddled deeper into the blanket. Peter had gone to the kitchen to get all of them some cups of hot chocolate, even though it was in the middle of summer.

Hot chocolate always managed to soothe Remus and it had worked this time as well. The empty mugs were sitting on the coffee table and Sirius and Peter were currently sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace engaging in a fierce battle of wizard chess. James had tried to warn Peter about Sirius' cheating tactics but Sirius had quickly managed to shut him up with a cushion to the face. So much for his effort to help Peter not lose in a pathetic way…

He left them to their game and leaned against the couch as lay sprawled on the floor, an open Quidditch magazine lying in his lap but he wasn't reading it. He was watching Remus, who was staring into the flames with a blank expression on his face. He knew that Remus was afraid, he could see it in the tight grip Remus had on the blanket and in the way he was clenching his jaw. He wanted to help and relieve his pain but he couldn't. He was not yet an official animagus. Or as official as he had been, that is. So he would have to resort to what they had always done before they could turn into animals. He would sit beneath the trapdoor tonight listening to Remus screams of agony and angry howls. He shuddered as he thought of spending the night there without either Sirius or even Peter by his side but he wouldn't let Remus be alone when he went through the pain of the transformation.

He turned his head towards the portrait hole as he heard the sound of it being swung open. Professor McGonagall was here to take Remus to Madam Pomfrey. She had only done this the first time. In his mind a mantra of 'don't call her _Minnie_' started playing repeatedly.

"Good evening, professor!" The four boys chorused and James congratulated himself mentally for not calling her Minnie. With a small snicker, James noted how Sirius sat up a little straighter. She nodded at them once before turning towards Remus.

"We received note that your mother's condition has worsened." McGonagall's expression softened slightly as she said the lie. Nothing gave her away and James would have believed her had he not known the truth. Sirius and Peter head whipped towards Remus with worried expressions on their faces.

"C-can I visit her?" Remus voice sounded slightly strangled as he asked the question. He was tapping his foot nervously, a clear sign that he was telling a lie.

"Your father requested your presence, so yes, you may visit her. Actually you may visit her right now." She answered smoothly. Instead of getting up and following McGonagall out of the portrait hole he sat there completely frozen.

"Go." James nudged Remus softly. Remus guilt ridden gaze snapped towards James. He knew that he felt guilty about lying to them. "Go to your mum. We will take notes if you're still not back tomorrow."

"If you can read Peters scrawl!" Sirius exclaimed trying to lighten the mood.

"Oy, your writing is just as worse as mine!" Peter protested.

"It's all right, so go to her and tell your mum to get well soon." James said as he nudged Remus again. The other two nodded along. With one last guilty look towards them, Remus followed McGonagall out of the portray hole.

oOo

Remus silently followed Professor McGonagall through the deserted hallways of Hogwarts. He had hated lying to his new friends. He bloody hated it. He didn't know how he would do it for the next few months or for the next seven years. Especially when he had seen the worry in his friends' eyes for his mother, which was perfectly healthy if slightly overworked.

Professor McGonagall knocked softly on the door of what Remus suspected was the Hospital Wing. She opened the door with a small creak that might have as well been a shout in the silence.

"Poppy?" She called into the seemingly empty hospital wing.

"One moment, Minerva!" A voice called from inside. A door on the far corner opened and a woman in the clothes of a Victorian nurse stepped out. She was wearing the traditional white cloth over her blond slowly greying hair. She was holding a blanket in her arms, which lay neatly on an empty bed. She smiled as her eyes landed on Remus, her blue gaze turning soft.

"You must be Mister Lupin. It's nice to meet you." she smiled at him nothing in her gaze betrayed in any way that she was disgusted by what he was.

"It's nice to meet you" He answered with a small smile as he shook her hand.

"I will leave him in your care, Poppy" Minerva said with a small smile as she squeezed Remus shoulder once before leaving him alone with Madame Pomfrey.

"You will be fine, no worries." She said gently as she led him out of the hospital wing. Fine was not what he would have said but he knew that he would survive. He just wasn't looking forward to the transformation, putting it mildly. He was terrified. He was terrified each full moon, since the day strong teeth had sunk into his flesh and had turned him into a monster.

Silently they made their way outside. They walked through tall grass towards the Whomping Willow. The branches of the tree were moving dangerously, their movement sounding like whips slicing through the air.

"Can you see the knot on the root of the tree?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she pointed at said knot with her wand. Remus nodded. She moved her wand with flourish and a small twig started floating in the air. Its tip touched the knot and the tree ceased all movement. "Touch it and the tree will freeze."

Gently she helped him through the hole that was between the roots of the tree. The tip of her wand was the only source of light in the otherwise pitch black darkness of the tunnel. He followed her silently, fear sizzling through his veins, up to a trap door locked with a heavy iron lock that was over their heads at the end of the tunnel. With a small key, Madame Pomfrey unlocked it and ushered Remus through.

Quietly and with his fist clenched, Remus sat down on the couch in the Shack. He tried to keep his breathing steady as he felt the familiar fear of the transformation fill his mind. Soon the unbearable pain would start again. Soon he would be screaming again.

"It will be all right" Madame Pomfrey was standing in front of him, a kind yet sad smile on her lips. Before he could answer, he was enveloped in a warm hug. She smelled like lemon balm, thyme and if he concentrated enough he could make out the faint smell of lavender. All these different smells should have made him feel nauseous but they did quite the opposite. They soothed his restless stomach and the pain beneath his skull. He relaxed in her embrace. "Everything will be fine. You will wake up in the morning and I will heal each scratch. Soon you will be back to Gryffindor tower laughing with your friends. The transformation will pass. It will always pass and then you will be nothing more than a normal boy that I will patch up if he's injured"

She had hit the nail on the head. The pain of the transformation always seemed endless. It felt like the pain would never stop. He needed to be reminded that it would stop, that the transformation was not all that was his life.

"Thank you." Remus answered softly. With a gentle smile she stepped back and released him.

"The moon is nearly up. I should go back. I will see you tomorrow morning." She said softly as she squeezed his shoulder. He nodded and watched her as he disappeared through the trap door.

He was left behind in utter darkness. He took deep breaths trying to remind himself that the pain would end that it was no permanent. He tried to think about what would come after his transformation. The hospital stay was not something he was looking forward to, but he was looking forward to returning to Gryffindor tower, to returning to his friends. The first friends he could remember having after he was bitten. He had forgotten how much joy simple friendship brought.

He tried to block out the ache that grew in his body by thinking of his friends, thinking of James' teasing and intelligent grin, Sirius' booming laughter and Peter's quiet chuckles.

He couldn't lose them now that he knew what it was like to have friends. They could never find out about his secret. They could never find out what he truly was.

A ripple of pain ripped every single thought out of his mind. He slumped forward, his fingers cramping as he tried to breathe through the pain that felt like someone had set every part of him on fire. '_So it begins again' _was his last coherent thought before he got lost in the sea of pain. He was no longer aware of the screams that were torn from his throat. The only thing he knew was pain.

oOo

James flinched as he heard the first scream of pain through the sealed trap door above him. He was huddled in thick blankets leaning against the wall of the tunnel. His hands were clenched into fists as he tried to breathe calmly. Remus' screams of pain were echoing from above and he couldn't do a damn thing. At least when he had been able to turn into an Animagus he had been able to stay beside Remus during his transformation. They had never been able to lessen the pain but at least Remus hadn't been through it alone.

James hated it. He hated to know that one of his friends was in pain. He hated not being able to do anything. It was the worst feeling. He had felt like that the whole time he had been dead. Even though he was alive again, he couldn't do a damn thing. James' heart broke when he heard a small whimper of pain. He closed his eyes tightly trying to continue to breathe evenly as the tears started rolling down his cheeks. He wasn't ashamed of them. Another pain filled scream resounded before the screams of pain turned into angry howls. He could hear wood splinter thanks to angry wolf claws, the sound of fabric being ripped apart. The next moment, he could hear Moony trying to tear the trapdoor open. He could smell James through the thick wood.

James felt like time was moving slower than ever as he listened to Moony's growls and howls. At long last, the howls became human whimpers and James gave up trying to resist the urge to see Remus. He needed to make sure that he was all right.

"Alohomora!" The lock clicked open and slowly James opened the trap door and peeked inside. The room was a mess of destruction. Claw marks as deep as his hand was big were ripped into the walls. The couch looked like something big had chewed on it for hours and had ripped the rest apart. A lump was lying in the far corner and James hastily scrambled through the trap door. He ran over to Remus, who was covered in his own blood. He was so pale he looked nearly white. James felt sick as he looked at the claw marks and bites that covered the eleven year old boy. With slightly shaking hands, he laid his fingers on Remus' neck trying to find his pulse. He let out a small sigh of relief when he found it, even if it was slightly unsteady. Softly he brushed Remus' sweat soaked bangs out of his face. A bleary amber eye opened and looked at him. Remus' gaze was unfocused.

"J-James?" His voice was nothing more than a hoarse croak.

"Yup, it's me, mate. I'm here" James whispered softly as Remus eyes drifted shut again. "Everything's all right, you will be fine."

Remus was unconscious again. With a whispered promise that he would visit Remus later in the hospital wing, James tore himself away even though he wanted to stay beside his friend. He needed to leave if he didn't want to get in a whole lot of trouble. Madame Pomfrey would be here soon. He locked the trap door behind him before he forcefully pushed his blanket into his bag. He threw the invisibility cloak over himself before he rushed through the tunnel. Just as he stepped out of the hole between the roots Madame Pomfrey made her way towards the Whomping Willow.

James silently sneaked past her and ran all the way back towards Hogwarts. He only stopped running when he was standing in front of a tapestry that reminded him of something other than Remus being in pain. He was standing in front of the tapestry showing the attempt of Barnabas the barmy trying to teach trolls ballet. A clearly insane attempt, in James' and any other students' opinion. He was standing in front of the room of requirement, the place from where the Death Eaters had invaded Hogwarts. The place where Crabbe got himself killed by a fire he couldn't control. The place where Voldemort had hidden one of his Horcruxes. The diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. It was nearly a subconscious decision to walk past the room three times while thinking of the room of hidden things. The place in which Harry had taught Dumbledore's army.

Unbidden an image of a small baby with emerald eyes and wild black hair bubbled up in his mind. He could nearly hear the little ones laughter and almost feel the weight of his son in his arms. James bit his lip. He could hear Harrys first word and the lullabies Lily had sung each night. He could hear his sons wailing when Voldemort had killed him. He remembered a little toddler never receiving the amount of love he deserved from his relatives. He saw that toddler grow up into a young child, that was ignored and hated in the home he grew up in.. He saw his son hunted by danger. He saw his son die at the hands of Voldemort. He could hear his son mourn those he lost. He saw the pain and sadness his son had to go through all his life because they had died James clenched his hands into fist. No, this time everything would be different. He would get to see his son grow up enveloped by the love he deserved. He would not allow Harry to fear for his life a second time. He would make sure that his son was safe when he was born. He would be safe from Voldemort when James would hold him in his arms again.

With renewed determination James stepped through the door into the room of hidden things. The room was, in one word, a mess. Unstable towers made of books were reaching near the ceiling, the stuffed troll was as ugly as ever. A mountain made out of damaged furniture was lying on a different corner. James knew that the Marauders would add a few items to the list of destroyed school property that would end up on that mountain in the coming years. He walked past a heap of old and rusted swords. He nearly stumbled over a lance that was lying on the middle of the room. The statue of the first headmaster of Hogwarts seemed to be watching him as he tried to remember the way Harry had taken when he had found the diadem for the first time.

He let out a breath of relief when he finally stumbled over the diadem. It was discoloured and no longer as pretty as it had once been. The blue sapphire that graced its middle had turned into a murky greenish colour. James stared at the Horcrux in his hand with apprehension. He was holding a part of Voldemort's soul in his hands and that was in some ways truly disgusting. But he had bigger problems than just holding snake bastard's horcrux in his hands. There was still the issue of destroying the horcrux. Either he set the whole room on fire with Fiendfyre like Crabbe had done, never mind that Crabbe had killed himself in the process something which james did not want to repeat, or he had to kill the basilisk some way. He actually didn't want to destroy the room. After all, the Room of Requirement and the Room of Hidden Things would have its uses later on. They had used the room to work on their Animagus transformations. So the fiendfyre in here was out of question especially since he had no idea if he could control it with his currently slightly unstable eleven-year-old magic. That left basilisk venom, meaning that he would have to kill the giant snake. He would not do it like Harry. His son had more luck on his side than normal. So he officially needed to update his list. Research on ways to kill basilisks. Another issue was if it wouldn't be better to destroy all Horcruxes at once so that Voldmort couldn't realize what was happening till it was too late. If he destroyed it now there was no doubt that Voldemort would feel it and send someone to check it out. Someone would probably turn out to be more than one Death Eater. He rubbed his temple. The whole thing was giving him a bloody headache especially when he hadn't slept the whole night.

He looked at the diadem one more before he made up his mind. He looked around till he found a chest in which the diadem would fit. He threw all the jewellery that was inside it on the floor before placing the diadem inside. He pulled his wand and started placing protections around the diadem that would alarm him if anyone tried to touch it. He closed the chest and securely locked it with a key that he put in his trouser pocket. He placed more protection charms on the chest making it impossible to open it with magic. Now he just needed a hiding place till he made a decision what to do with the horcrux. His gaze landed on the stuffed troll. He seriously doubted that anyone would look there. No one would suspect the diadem of Ravenclaw to be hidden inside a stuffed troll. With his wand, he made a clean cut in the stomach of the troll. He pulled put out a lot of the cotton like substance inside the troll. He would _sooo_ wash his hands after this. He made a small grimace of disgust before he put the chest inside the stomach of the troll. With a small movement of his wand he sealed the stomach over the chest close till it looked like he had never cut it open. He placed another charm on the troll that would alarm him if anyone tried to touch the troll. He gave small satisfied nod before he quickly left the room. James would have to think of a course of action. The faster he came up with a plan the better.

He looked outside the sun had already raised. From a look at his pocket watch he realized that in a little of an hour breakfast would begin to be served. So no sleep for him. He hoped Slughorn wouldn't be to mad at him if he fell asleep during potions. And since he was awake, there was no way Sirius and Peter were continued to be allowed to sleep. A small smirk hushed over his tiered features, he already had a pretty special wakeup call in mind.

**A.N.: First of all don't ask me why James chose the stuffed troll, I have no idea. Thanks to MSupernatural for betaing and for giving me a nice suggestion. :) I thought it was about time that James started to make some 'plans' what to do. Even though it is not much of plan yet but that will change. Thank you soooo much for the reviews up till now. I hope you enjoy this chapter and reviews are always appreciated. **


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